The Touch of Your Hand
by AlmondJoyz
Summary: Bella discovers something strange and wonderful upon her transformation. Includes quotes of the day from Stephenie Meyer's website.


"Just do it," I told him, lying underneath Edward, our bodies still panting from our shared orgasm of seconds ago.

"Bella…" he pleaded as he raised himself up on his elbows, pressing his cold groin into mine. "Not now. We've only just…_no_."

My husband of five days was beginning to drive me nuts.

"Edward, you promised. You told me you would change me after we were married. You promised we would make love first. Well, we're married, and we've been having sex for five days straight," I reminded him, causing his penis to twitch. "Carlisle's down stairs. I'll just go ask him to do it. And if you renege on your agreement, eternity will seem too long to be with me."

I had him there; I could see it in his face. With a sigh in resignation, Edward rolled off me, grabbed his boxer shorts off the floor, and tossed me the t-shirt I had stolen from him, the one he got at Woodstock.

"You'll want to be comfortable, and I don't enjoy the idea of you thrashing around naked in our bed when passion is not the cause," he said with a crooked grin, the one that will forever make my head spin.

I pulled the shirt over my head and when I emerged from the neckline, he was gone. _He'd better be getting Carlisle,_ I thought. As soon as the thought ended, both Cullen men stood in my bedroom. I watched my 'father-in-law's' eyes rove over me, taking in my debauched appearance, and I blushed. Of course he knew what we were doing up here. Neither Edward nor I were exactly quiet as we made love. There was also the inconvenient truth that everyone in the house, besides me, was a vampire and had a keen sense of hearing.

"I'll be right here, Bella, in case anything goes wrong. I wouldn't worry, though. Edward's been practicing on rabbits." Edward shot Carlisle a deadly glance.

"Been making little bunniculas, have you, Edward?" I teased, earning myself my own death-glare. "Sorry. Just thought I'd lighten the moment, that's all."

"Well, it's not funny, love." Edward sat on the bed, while Carlisle made himself comfortable on the sofa across the room. "Lay down."

"Ooh, I love it when you're the dominant one," I teased as I lay back against the pillows.

"Bella," he whined. "Stop making jokes."

Carlisle chuckled. "You have to admit that was rather humorous, Edward."

"Not you, too…"

"Sorry. No more jokes. Just make me mine for eternity."

He took a deep, unnecessary breath as I held mine, our eyes locked for a moment before Edward leaned forward, heading for my neck. I closed my eyes and hissed as I felt the stab of pain as his teeth sank into my flesh.

* * *

The next few days were a myriad of pain and vague images. I remember, most pronouncedly, Edward's voice soothing me as I thrashed and growled against the searing pain and torturous nightmares. I recall him singing to me at one point and it calmed me greatly.

He had said, **"Do you want me to sing to you? I'll sing all night if it will keep the bad dreams away**."

It worked. While the dreams were still horrible, I wasn't as frightened as I had been.

When I finally woke, the room smelled eerily musty, like when you walk into a damp basement after a heavy rain. My eyes fluttered open and the room was dark, but I could hear voices, several voices in fact. I sat up and looked around the bed.

"**Why am I covered in feathers**?" I asked the dark, musty room. I didn't expect anyone to answer, but was startled when I heard a voice answer me.

"You tore apart the pillow." It was Alice.

"And you couldn't clean me off because…?"

"I didn't want you to rip me apart," she said with a grin. "I'll go get Edward. He's out hunting." She was gone in an instant.

I tried to roll over, but was gripped by a wave of nausea, making me groan and lay back down. I proceeded to brush away the feathers onto the floor and when I was feather-less, I lay back on the pillows again.

On a whim, I pressed my fingers against my cheek to feel my own coldness, the same marbled hardness I'd learned to love of Edward. I screamed when I pressed my skin. It was…warm. And soft, like it always had been. He'd gone back on his word. He hadn't changed me at all!

"Edward Cullen! You lying son of a bitch!"

Before the words stopped echoing in the room, he was there at the end of the bed, blood still dripping off his lips. I cringed and turned away, waiting for the inevitable light-headedness that always followed.

"Bella, love, it's alright. I'm here," he cooed softly as he reached out to stroke my hair. I recoiled from his touch.

"You—you lied," I choked out. "You didn't change me at all." I wanted to cry, or have the earth open up beneath me and swallow me whole.

"I did. I swear. You've been out of it for three days. You'll be fine."

"Liar!" I growled, actually baring my teeth at him. "If you did, then why am I warm? Why am I soft? You _promised_ me, Edward!"

He grabbed my arms and held me at arms length.

"I did, you know I did. Carlisle was here. Everyone took turns sitting with you, even Rosalie."

I pushed him away, unaware that when I did, he flew off the bed and landed with a thump on the floor. He was back on the bed in a flash, his eyes gentler than before.

"Touch me, Bella. Put your hand on my cheek."

I stared at him as he made his silly request. "What difference could that possibly make, Edward?"

"Please," he begged. "I need you to touch me." He made no move to grasp my hand. I sighed and nodded.

My hand reached out to him and watched his eyes closed, as if he were preparing himself for the contact. When my palm touched his flesh, I was shocked. He was…not cold.

"What's going on? Why aren't you cold?" His icy skin was one thing I looked forward to touching whenever we were together. His hand dashed back and caught me around the wrist, placing it back on his cheek.

"It's not cold because we're the same, Bella," he reassured me. "In fact, you feel a bit colder to me." I asked him 'why' with my eyes and he smiled. "Vampires don't feel as cold to one another because our bodies are the same temperature. And since we're the same, I feel softer to you. Don't you like it? It's one of the more pleasant side-effects of changing."

Did he really ask if I didn't like the way he felt? I reached out my other hand and let them roam over his face, much the same way a blind person reaches out to touch someone. I was getting to know his face all over again and the wrinkles and planes and valleys and hills were all new sensations to me, yet oddly familiar ones. I pulled him closer and drew him in for a kiss. I gasped at the contact of my lips on his, savoring the new pliability of his lips and the warm softness of our tongue as we touched them together. It was our first kiss all over again, but better. We clung to each other, desperately kissing each other, caressing each other, making the moment last and last.

Time stopped for us, there in the bedroom, as we made love for the first time as vampires, as equals. He didn't need to be careful and I could let my body react fully to its natural instincts.

I held Edward, my husband, my lover, my friend, tightly, knowing that he was mine forever.

Finally.


End file.
